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I may not have achieved the 6-weeks later Allison I had in my head BUT I still achieved A LOT…

Wow I can’t believe week 6 is over. If I am completely honest, which I try to always be with you all, I did not achieve the goals that I had set for myself in these 6 weeks. AND to be completely honest I know this is 100% MY FAULT. The challenge did not fail me; my adherence to the challenge is what limited my ability to meet my goals. However, no failure occurred!

My motivation MONDAY today is ME. I am proud of my progress even though it is not where I wanted to be I HAVE come a long way in these 6 weeks.

Weights – When I started the shred I was able to lift moderate weights, and in MOST every workout my starting weight now is almost my ending weight from the first weeks. It is really nice to see the weights stack on the bar and feel good about getting a weight I never thought I could get up UP!

Gym-Esteem – my confidence in the gym has definitely boosted!! I have used some equipment that I had never used before and now that my weights are higher I feel more like I belong there with the boys.

Spotting – Brent will tell you I am a horrible spotter. I get too nervous or distracted and really do suck at it. BUT I have improved in the past 6 weeks and am definitely getting better.

FORM – okay I am a STICKLER with form on my patients && want to have the best form I can when I workout. I have monkey arms which means when my form breaks down my elbows are almost ALWAYS the. Luckily with my increased strength I have been able to begin to overcome my monkey-arm issue.

Overall I really did enjoy the Shred. Like I said in last weeks recap the nutrition component for the last 3 weeks really had a negative effect on both of us. Week 6 we returned to the phase 1 food plan and I LOVED the way my body felt. I had increased energy for activities and NEVER felt hungry or deprived during the day. I also REALLY loved the incorporation of cardio with lifting. It was a really nice combination and a nice change of pace.

My progress was definitely NOT a straight line, but from day 1 to today there has definitely been a change… The future never looked good!

The challenge was ON POINT and I was seeing AMAZING results up to week 3, when the nutrition was stable and our focus was 100% on the challenge, then we let loose a little and started enjoying the weekends with our friends & family {{& I am GLAD we did}} which in combination with the nutrition change really caused me to rebound. ONCE I returned to the ORIGINAL nutrition plan and concentrated on the movements & my form, not just the repetitions/cardio I started to see increased gains and return of the shredded muscle mass I yearned for.

I cannot wait to start incorporating the lifting series that I have learned during this 6 weeks along with other exercises I have been ITCHING to get at! I hope you all have enjoyed my 6 week shred recaps. I wish I could show you some AMAZING transformation from week 1 to week 6 but my reality is I was already FIT and LEAN when I started the shred, my body responded GREAT when I stayed on point but 4 weeks of wavering diet and slacked exercises at times resulted in my results.

Weekly Progress… I am PROUD of my progress & progress is a HUGE part of the process…

I AM PROUD of where I came, I can see the strength gains in the gym and I know that 6 weeks is just the BEGINNING of hypertrophy. Results don’t happen over night they happen over time & six weeks just isn’t enough time. I love looking at my progress pictures, even if I feel silly taking them, they really make me see my hard work and realize that my hours in the gym add up!

I hope my story helps to Motivate you on this Monday… Stay Positive & Stay Active!

I’d Love To Know ~~ What is your current gym accomplishment? Do you take progress pictures?

Well fall is “here”… I don’t know about you guys but the weather in Rockford has been mighty crazy this week. We had two really hot days followed by a big cold front & my sinuses took a big hit from it.

I told you at the beginning of the week that Brent and I were going to Re-Do week 4 of our 6 week shred. We both felt drained after the weekend in Ann Arbor but were ready to take on the next week. Our diet was pretty close to what the given diet plan was and our workouts were good but something was off. I don’t know if it was that neither of us were feeling great & were still drained or if we weren’t getting enough nutrients but something was off. My energy was low and sluggish & I know Brent mentioned the same thing more than once.

Striving for PROGRESS not perfection means repeating week 4, rather than brushing it under the rug and starting week 5.

About Thursday I decided I needed veggies & MORE from this nutrition plan. I think guidelines are great but obviously my body was not happy with what was going on and the guidelines needed to be altered!

Friday after work I pulled together a power packed salad filled with everything I like, and even though my sinuses were still angry I definitely felt a surge of energy. My workout still seemed to lag at times but it was likely the best workout I’ve had in the two week 4’s. For dinner I made these POWERPLATES for the #powerbowlchallenge which had cherry bbq chicken, couscous & a corn-blackbean-greenbean-pesto-salad! YUM!

Powerplate so powerpacked that even Brent said to take a picture!! You know it was good!!

For the salad I took a can of each veggie & rinsed it out, then added 1tbsp prepared pesto, lemon juice & olive oil to the top, mixed it all together and added some pepper. It was a great cold side to our chicken dinner & definitely made it feel fresh and healthy!

This week at the grocery store we decided to take the meal plan more liberally and adapt to US and how we work best. We are eating all these “extra” meals to give us more energy but both feel sluggish. So I made sure to pick up some SUPERFOODS to reenergize our bodies & minds.

Considering the fall weather SQUASH was definitely in order… I had intentions of only buying A single acorn squash, but ended up buying a spaghetti squash, two carnival squashes, an acorn squash & a white acorn squash! I grew up eating acorn squash and remember dousing it in butter and brown sugar!! Now I love eating it plain after roasting or stuffed with deliciousness… Spaghetti squash is another go to favorite it takes on the flavors of everything else and is a great spaghetti “noodle”…

I have never tried Carnival squash before so I sliced it up and threw it in the oven with the spaghetti squash to roast (400deg for 25minutes, add an extra 15 for the spaghetti squash) && it is amazing! It has a heartier taste, but is still sweet; Brent said it tasted like sweet corn. I think it is more a mix of butternut squash & a new potato. I guess you just have to try it for yourself since our descriptions were so different!

Yesterday we ate it straight from the pan, rind & all (I washed them really well before baking & the skin was thin like a potatoes). This morning we made a breakfast scramble & threw some of the carnival squash in with our eggs and sausage!! It added a great sweetness to the slightly spicy sausage.

Carnival Squash & Sausage Scramble

I also whipped up these Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cups, inspired by Alesha’s recipe.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:8]

They are super easy to whip up and you can easily change the ingredients to match your preferences or what you have in your cabinet. I used pumpkin because I had it & because its fall and goes along with all my squash! The next time I make it I will add more liquid so the chocolate is thinner it was a little over powering on the bottom, but still delicious!

Yesterday all our sluggishness definitely caught up to us, we went to grab a beer and watch the Alabama game then came home to take a “quick nap” which turned in to a 4 hour nap, then 2 hours of watching tv, followed by another 8 hours of sleeping. I guess our bodies needed the rest, and I am definitely feeling better today.

I woke up this morning and made this carrot-ginger-orange juice, which has been said to help with sinus colds. I don’t have a juicer so I chopped my carrots small, and chunked the orange up, then sliced the ginger too so my bigbadninja didn’t have to do SOO much work. I ended up blending, scraping the sides, blending, scraping, blending (&added a little water) until it came to a liquidy consistency. THEN I broke out my mesh strainer and took the very orange mixture and pushed it through the strainer so I had juice in my cup & pulp in the strainer. It definitely took a little MUSCLE power but I was pleased with the consistency and that I could make juice at home, though if I continue to want to juice I am going to have to find a faster way to do it!

Hope you all enjoyed my weekend recap, I am so glad we decided to get back to town early yesterday and recover from the long days of the weekend. I could still use one more day… So this morning when I woke up I knew I needed to have the best attitude toward today or it could quickly become a bad day.

Brent also often has a hard time on Mondays, the end of the weekend and the start of the work week doesn’t mesh well with him. So we had talked about staying CALM & being positive in the morning. THEN I saw this quote on pinterest, & thought how fitting for our #motivationmonday!

I truly believe that having a positive thought or attitude toward the morning can & will impact your whole day. If you wake up angry or negative your day will reflect.

Brent & I also decided to do a week 4 REWIND. Last week we were really busy and honestly our workouts were OFF and our nutrition followed suit this weekend. SO rather than moving forward in our 6 week shred to week 5 we decided to REWIND and do week 4 over again. Since our shred is for us & us alone we want to make the most out of it & redoing week 4 is the perfect idea!

I will keep you all up to date on our week 4 rewind!

I’d Love To Know~~ how do you stay positive on Mondays? What’s your motivation Monday quote of the week?

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. I definitely needed the extra day & am so glad we utilized the weekend to ENJOY ourselves & live life!

As you can see Allison In Wellness Land got a little facelift! I had the time today to work on getting this blog to the point I wanted, it still needs some work, minor tweaks but I am SOOO happy with how it looks right now & I hope you are too. I will be working on filling in some of the blank spaces & providing you guys with recipes, motivation, workouts and MORE about me =)

BUT for now I am going to continue focusing on our 6 week shred & providing you guys information on each week. We just FINISHED week 3 and MAN WAS IT HARD! I really am loving how even though the exercises stay the same each week has a little twist which challenges you even more!

The first ½ of week 3 we did HEAVY lifts of 2-5 reps, major muscle bulking & IT WAS AWESOME. I really did love being able to really bump up my weight and feel accomplished by getting personal bests and leaving feeling like a true BEAST! The second ½ of the week was ENDURANCE lifts of 21-30 reps… HOLY CHANGE OF PACE! We went from lifting our max weights to heading back down to the 5-pounder end of the dumbbells and going for ages! Talk about a SLOOWWWWW burn that develops from doing soo many reps, but again SO FUN. I loved changing it up and really feeling the definition with each rep.

On Thursday I wanted to share with you all my honest hour & gym-epiphany, but life got in the way and so my honest hour is now your motivation monday. In the middle of my workout Thursday I was jumping rope and zoned out, my mind started wandering back to when I FIRST started my journey that has now turned into my passion.

~~~Cue Day Dream Back Story~~~

When I FIRST started {{REALLY}} working out, not high school sports or the random 3-6weeks of intermittent gym cardio, but TRUE dedication to a gym & truly LOVING fitness. This was in Lubbock at The Boxing Club, my friend Kori and I joined and both were very worried about how we would like it, but doing it together made it SO MUCH BETTER!!! I remember our FIRST class, we started with jumping rope for TEN MINUTES, I don’t think I ever jumped rope when I was little and it definitely showed… after my embarrassing jump roping & “warm up” I remember looking at Kori and saying “DANG its only been 10 minutes, and I am already dead!”… it probably took me a solid month of going to the BClub 3-4days/week before I FINALLY learned to jump rope, and I STILL wasn’t good. BUT I was obsessed with working out and so excited to see the little progress that I was seeing. I felt better but I was still eating poorly, so my food choices were really killing my efforts in the gym. I would go every day and look in the mirror and see all the FLAWS, I would avoid looking in the 30 foot mirror for fear of feeling like an idiot, because I DIDN’T SEE MY TRUE REFLECTION. I saw the girl I THOUGHT I WAS not the one I WAS. I would get complements from the instructors about my technique, my power, my core strength but all I could see were my WEAKNESSES.

A VERY not so attractive picture of me POST boxing class PRE lifestyle change. SIDE NOTE — this was an extremely hard && sweaty class, Mrs. B knew what was up!

Kori & I then decided to do a 24-day diet challenge, & those 24 days CHANGED MY LIFE. We were still working out at the bclub BUT NOW we were FUELING our bodies with whole, nutritious, balanced meals that gave us the energy and power that we needed to perform these workouts. I didn’t count calories, I didn’t weigh food, I didn’t really even measure. I JUST followed the instructions, & FOCUSED on portion control. AND I started seeing the changes in the mirror; I FELT better & so then I saw myself in a better light. I saw the # on the scale go down and THAT FELT GOOD. I felt my clothing fit better and that felt GOOD. BUT what felt BEST was being able to go to the gym and GIVE IT MY ALL.

I was able to kick HARDER, punch HARDER, jump ROPE better, run faster, AND focus on myself and what was best for MY BODY!

Well that was a year and a half ago & I still have my struggles. Focusing on plateaus and not progress; picking out the defects rather than identifying the strengths; focusing on the results and not the PROCESS. When I was jumping rope on Thursday I saw my reflection for WHO I AM NOW. && I really think this was one of the FIRST times during a workout when I was a mess that I really thought “DAMN I LOOK GOOD, LOOK HOW FAR I HAVE COME.”I realized I should be more CONFIDENT about what I do and how I workout because if I AM confident in MYSELF that’s all I NEED!

Have CONFIDENCE in yourself and WHAT you do!

I don’t go to the gym for anyone but MYSELF, I workout to make MYSELF feel better, to challenge MYSELF to push beyond MY boundaries & to motivate MYSELF to work harder and train better. I know that sounds REALLY selfish but if you are living your life to please someone else will you ever truly be happy?!

I carried this confidence through the rest of my workout Thursday and my workouts on Friday & Saturday. AND my confidence brought me COMPLEMENTS, like I said before I don’t go to the gym for anyone but MYSELF & frankly I only know one other person there {{BRENT}}, but on Saturday a random gym goer (who Brent started talking to) came up to me & complemented the definition in my arms & asked what sport I played. I think its funny that for a girl to lift and be toned I have to “play a sport,” I told him that I was a Physical Therapist and being fit is a personal prerequisite. {{I mean who wants to go to a PT who is overweight, kind of like who would want to go to a dentist with rotting teeth?}} BUT I truly believe that my inner confidence helped him notice me and propelled that RANDOM complement ((which totally boosted my mood!!)) My arms aren’t anything special{{yet}}, yes I lift, yes they are getting tone and YES I do work hard, so THANK YOU RANDOM guy for noticing!

OK so this LONG story leads me to my MOTIVATIONMONDAY quote.

Trust YOURSELF and your training, REFLECT on each days experience & end the day with the moment that brought you JOY. Constant reflection helps me notice my PROGRESS and appreciate the steps that come from each day.

Today’s workout was NOT that great, I didn’t go into it with the best attitude, I was NOT mentally there. We lifted to failure and FAILURE is something I have a hard time accepting. I KNOW this is muscle failure not personal failure but that word mentally psyched me out and limited my lifts. I had to say OUT LOUD to Brent “I CAN lift this weight, I CAN go heavier & I just need to TRUST myself and GET OUT of my head.” And you know what I DID IT, they might not have been complete sets, but I GOT THE WEIGHT UP.

Then we hit incline bench, my newest mortal enemy, and I plateaued. I got the first set of weight up, and completed my set with minor fatigue at the end, THE PERFECT WEIGHT. SO I upped my weight the next set & couldn’t get the weight up to save my life, I TRIED & failed, I tried AGAIN & failed, Brent helped me get it up & I couldn’t complete a rep & failed. Lots of failed attempts = frustrated Allison. Brent was helping talk me through getting the weight up & I lost it, my mental wall was hit and my body responded with TEARS. MY confidence was blown and I was beyond frustrated WITH MYSELF (there it is again selfish me!). I dropped my weight by ½ and did TWICE the amount of reps in our rep range. Welcome confidence building 101: when in doubt drop your weight and power through!

My failure helped me pick my head up and keep going. PLATEAUS don’t limit you; they PROPEL you to the next LEVEL. Which brings me to Motivation Monday quote #2

DON’T STOP, PROGRESS IS PROGRESS, POWER THROUGH!

Ok long post over! I hope my story helps to motivate you if you’re stuck at a plateau or frustrated with the reflection in the mirror. REMEMBER you are BEAUTIFUL & WORTHY. Hit the gym and find what you LOVE, it will make a difference. Pick your head up and channel your inner CONFIDENCE and let the world see it!

I’d Love To Know ~~ How have you overcome your self-doubt & found inner confidence? Have you ever had a reflection epiphany when at the gym?

Strength doesn’t come from what you CAN do. It comes from OVERCOMING the things you once thought you COULDN’T…. this is ME overcoming something I NEVER even tried but ALWAYS said I CANT….

I used to just say “I cant do that”… ” I cant do a pull up or push up”… but now that “CANT” is what DRIVES me to do better and DO the exercise. I want to say I CAN look at what I CAN do!!

I have a running list {{in the back of my head}} of exercises that I have a newly developed love/hate relationship with. Usually this relationship stems from me being a perfectionist and either 1. Not having perfected the form 2. Not being able to up my weight with good form 3. Not being able to complete without help…

Before this 6-week challenge my list consisted of::

Push ups (narrow & triceps); now my push up ability has IMPROVED but it is not where I want it to be & that makes me CRAZY!!!!

Pull ups – I REFUSE to use the assisted pull up machine… it makes me feel awkward && I read an article about how for most females performing a pull up is hindered most by grip strength and those machines don’t allow you to improve your grip… I HAVE GOTTEN BETTER ON THE BAR!!!! I use a assistance band {{which is the most awkward thing ever to get in!}} and am able to get 30 or so good reps. I need to get a set of lighter bands so I can work towards no resistance

Hack Squats – my butt is nonexistent and hack squats kill them even more! This is a TRUE love/hate relationship

Before starting this 6 week challenge I would end EVERY workout with push ups and pull ups to try and get my body stronger and work on my weaknesses… I have been focusing on this plan & the workouts provided which are more straight lifting than functional exercises, so my push ups & pull ups have gone by the wayside…

14days after starting the shred & already seeing the definition I have been WISHING for… there is still work to be done because lets be real, walking around flexing like this ISN’T CUTE!!

Last night we did back & decided to take our bicep supersets & sub them out for pull ups. I LOVE/HATED it!! I was glad that I could still do them and that I was able to do them with greater ease & more explosive, but I am still too weak chicken to do them without the assistance band. I made Brent snap a picture of me on the bar so I could see my form & so I could share with all of you that adapting is OKAY and by using the assistance band I am STILL getting a major burn & workout!!

AHHH dreaded but LOVED pull ups…. from the back it looks like I am a beast… from the front you can see my beast-mode is achieved partly by that nice black assistance band!

I cant remember the last time I did a chin up… last night is did 15 with the assistance band

Hope my pictures of things I used to say I CANT but am working toward CAN has helped you realize that YOU CAN TOO!!! just try, you may be surprised how easy it is OR how you can do a little bit of it… even 1 rep is better than the ZERO you were doing before!

I’d Love To Know ~~ What are your gym-obstacles? What exercises do you wish you could perform & just don’t have the strength/form yet?

After our rest day on Thursday I was ready to lace up my sneakers and hit the… FARMERS MARKET!! & then the gym. Being new to Rockford I have no idea what to do, where to go.. I am pretty good at finding the gym, grocery store, and OBVIOUSLY the mall 😉

Friday I was talking to a patient who is another Rockford newbie and she was telling me about the Rockford City Market. This is a farmers market downtown Rockford on the river, they have tons of different vendors.. farm stands, some local shops such as jewelry/clothing/art & local food vendors & food trucks. SINCE we were planning on going to the gym right after the market we just browsed around and decided to come back another day.

Some quick shots from our trip to the market!

On our way to the gym Brent’s stomach started to get the best of us and he decided he was in NEED of food. We decided to have an impromptu date night and skip the gym, so we headed out for a major CHEAT meal. We went to a Mexican restaurant and I immediately wanted a margarita. We ordered a “monster” && MONSTER IT WAS!!! Holy moly batman this girl is a LIGHT WEIGHT, and that margarita took all my energy to finish. Thankfully there was some tasty chips & salsa to help soak it up. We had made plans to meet up with some other friends, BUT we both ended up passing out at home… Sorry party people I might only be 25 but this body is a one {{MONSTER}} margarita party.

My HUGE Strawberry Margarita! Brent’s was equally huge Lime!

To “make-up” for our two skipped days this week we decided to hit the gym TWICE Saturday. Saturday mornings workout was really Thursday’s chest & tri’s workout… Our evening workout was Friday’s shoulders & legs workout. By the end of our workout I could already feel my chest getting sore from this morning & my shoulders were on fire from our evening workout. I LOVED IT!!

After our late night lift we got a little silly doing #selfies in the mirror… practicing our duck faces & just being crazy was a great way to end our two-a-day saturday!!

After the morning workout to refuel we made a massive smoothie. It was filled with Waxy Maze (A quick digesting carbohydrate supplement), Creatine, Glutamine, Vanilla Protein Powder, Almond Milk, Water, Frozen Blueberries, Frozen Peaches & CHIA SEEDS!! I am going to be COMPLETELY honest, it was a bit gritty but once you got over the texture it really wasn’t bad. The blueberries & peaches really take over the flavor! I felt full & satisfied after a hard workout. Later we fueled up on a late lunch/early dinner of grilled fish, sweet potato & salad!

Grilled Tilapia!!! working on my grill marks!

It’s SUNDAY and I was really wanting a hearty breakfast. I knew we would need something substantial to make up for all we did yesterday & for the workout we had yet to do today. I wanted to make something “Sunday comforting” but was healthy and guilt-free. I decided to take our normal Eggs breakfast && ramp it up by making a stuffed omelet with roasted potatoes.

IT WAS AMAZINGGGG so I wanted to share the recipe with YOU! I used ingredients that I grabbed at the store yesterday, but this could EASILY be turned 100% vegetarian or used with whatever meat protein you have on hand! I will say if/when I make it again I will change the egg quantity, it was a BIT MUCH!!! {{either change to all egg whites, 3 whole eggs, or 2whites/2whole}}

Our monster omelet & potatoes breakfast! I also brewed coffee the night before and refrigerated overnight for our drink!

In a LARGE oiled skillet {{I WISH MINE WAS BIGGER!!!}} add egg mixture, taking a spatula around the edges letting more of the raw egg mixture get cooked… when ready flip completely over in the pan… let cook another 1-2 minutes

Mix turkey & onion mixture in with the mushrooms…. Add ½ of mixture on to the egg pancake.

CAREFULLY fold the other half of the “pancake” on top and slowly carefully slide onto a plate {{Or in my case I ended up flipping them on the plate!}}

REPEAT with other ½ of the ingredients!

Greek Yogurt Cream

¾ cup Plain Greek Yogurt

¼ cup chives

1 chipotle in adobo chopped fine

Pepper & salt to taste

Add all ingredients in a bowl, mix until incorporated

ENJOY!!

After such a great start to my Sunday I am off to fire up the grill & prep my food for the week!!! A little bit of time in the kitchen {{Or at the grill}} can save a TON of time during the week!!

Hope you had a great weekend & wonderful Saturday!

I’d Love To Know ~~ What’s your favorite twist on classic Sunday breakfast? How do you find new things in a new city?

Tuesday was a much better day than Monday. It was a steady morning in the clinic and no where as stressful as Monday night, PLUS I was able to come home and take a power nap before hitting the gym. FACT: I love taking quick naps, they really help recharge my battery!

I was excited for the gym but honestly a little nervous about my wrist. I decided to make smart modifications to the workout, like taking out mountain climbers & weighted step ups and jump roping instead.

our tuesday workout!

I was really able to push my weights on my shoulder press and get my personal best up. It always feels better when you feel the improvements and are able to push past that mental barrier of what you did last week. I also was able to do the kettlebell swings with better form. I have a hard time not using my back during the swings and have really been trying to work on that!

Needless to say I was a sweaty mess after the workout & ready to refuel with some food! I was really craving a salad, even though that’s what I eat every day for lunch, so I decided to grab some of our prepped salad stuff in the fridge and threw together a nice salad for myself. Brent walked up and said “HOLY SALAD”… I guess he didn’t think eating a salad out of a 2quart bowl was a normal thing… Sorry I’m Not Sorry!!

“normal” salad bowl && MY salad bowl!

My salad was power packed with a bunch of kale & romaine then topped with 1/2 a sweet potato, 2 small tomatoes, 1/2 red pepper diced, 1 small pork chop diced, 1 small zucchini & dressed with smokey salsa!

IN OTHER (random unrelated) EXCITING NEWS!!! Brent & I are going to the Michigan vs. Notre Dame game in a couple weeks & as it will be Brent’s FIRST Michigan game we decided to get some jerseys to celebrate the occasion!!! Check em out!

Those Who Stay Will Be Champions!

Its Wednesday and we are half way through the week! I have to say its day 10 and I feel GREAT, my energy is pretty good and I love knowing that I am fueling my body with healthy foods. I also love that there is a little ache and soreness in my muscles from changing up my workouts and challenging myself!

Its Monday, the start to another week.. uh well now that its 10pm, I guess the end of the start of the week!!… and I like to start the week with a motivational quote to make my day and week a little better.

Last weeks Monday motivation included this quote on hard work:

Last weeks motivation for you!! keep working for it with consistency & determination progress will come!!

But my true motivation Monday came on Wednesday with the sunrise and positivity that came with this quote!

Staying positive is not only good for your mental health but for those around you! Don’t sweat the small stuff!

Todays #motivationmonday fits my workday perfectly as I had a rough afternoon at work and left feeling defeated, frustrated and had a MAJOR headache. I truly love being a PT, even if I still feel weird calling myself one… but some days patients & their families wear on my stamina and leave me flustered. Today was one of those days! We weren’t all that busy but did have a steady afternoon, which was made HECTIC with patients showing up 20minutes late to appointments. I know everyone has something going on in their life, and definitely can’t say I’ve always been on time or early to every appointment && this is not the norm just TODAY!

I was reminding myself of THIS picture… my first day as a REAL LIFE LICENSED THERAPIST… I was so excited that I was now LIVING my DREAM!!

Needless to say at the end of the day I needed a pick me up, and a reminder that I CAN, as I scolded a patient for constantly saying “I cant” today… side note – if youre ever in physical therapy and constantly say “I can’t” you better believe you will earn yourself a few extra reps and a new exercise… I needed a reminder that I can & I will, especially before hitting the gym…

My #motivationmonday (or Tuesday!) for you is:

Turning CANT’S into CAN’s & DREAMS into PLANS!! positivity and persistence make it happen!!

Turning Cant’s into Can’s is the first step to turn your Dreams into Plans! This was perfect, and running through my head on my drive from work to the gym, then I found this quote art on Pinterest & the bright fun colors made it even better! I think bright colors make everything better; no one can be bright enough!!

Tonight’s workout was good, not great but better than no workout at all!! We ended up completing the chest portion of the workout & deciding to call it quits. My wrist was starting to give out on me and rather than pushing myself through 4 more exercises it was a smarter decision to call it a night.

Here’s what we did tonight:

Our “quick” workout tonight… maybe a bit slower than usual but I know my chest will still be feeling it tomorrow.

Remember the most important thing you can do when working out is to #listentoyourbody, if you push too hard through the pain you can increase your risk for injury and that extra push will set you back more than it set you forward. Exercise Smart & do what works for you and your body! Tonight my body needed someone ELSE to tell me to stop… thanks brent!!!… I would’ve pushed through but am SO glad that we stopped so I could write this post for you all tonight!

Hope you all had a wonderful Monday!

~Allison

I’d Love To Know ~~ What motivates you at the beginning of the week? How do you power through on tough days?

To start it off here is our weekend recap! Yesterday after a very lazy day of recovery TV watching and lazy-bum-being Brent and I hit the gym. Our late night workouts are becoming my favorite time of the day. I really do love being one of only a handful of people at our big gym. It is so nice not having to “compete” for equipment or feeling like you’re getting dirty looks doing your thing!

Last week on different days Brent and I both mentioned feeling like people were staring at us. I used to let this defeat me and intimidate me from entering the weight room and lifting free weights, now I notice it & yeah it makes me a bit uncomfortable but I try to say to myself that they are just jealous of my workout and wish they were doing it like me! I know my weights aren’t that heavy and I struggle through a lot of the lifts && lets be honest the cardio components too but OH WELL!! I am doing it and I feel good after, PLUS I see results, even if they are small! Brent is a little more insecure, probably because he is lifting with “a girl” but again I say OH WELL! Let them stare, so what!

Ok back to the workout! Saturday nights lift session was a good one! We did shoulders and legs and by the end we both were beat!!

Like I said before, a little progress is progress! Even though I feel a little silly taking #selfie pictures in the mirror, I love looking at weekly progress and seeing the small progress and definition!

How does working out make YOU feel?? This quote hits on a lot of why I love to workout!! PROGRESS IS PROGRESS, enjoy every bit, even if its small!

This morning after a nice sleep in, we hit the grocery store & spent the afternoon prepping our food, plus getting some other work done we again hit the gym for an evening lift.

My wrist was really bothering me after last nights workout, my self diagnosis has not proven effective {{its really hard to diagnose your own body!! #ineedthreehands}}, so my icing and trying to rest [[brent brought ALL the groceries in]] had to do. I was a bit nervous about hitting the gym but knew if I #listenedtomybody and modified when needed I could still get a great workout!

Our warm up tonight was jumping rope & it turned out to be the cardio component of 90% of our workout! Sometimes sticking to the same cardio accelerator is needed, we have done A LOT of step ups the past week & definitely needed a break!!! I took out the Hanging Power Cleans because I didn’t want to flare my already angry wrist & jumped rope through it again. It was nice to break out the jump rope, I definitely need to dust off my jump rope and get my (very elementary) skills back!

Heres our workout from tonight:

Jumping Rope is not as easy as it once may have been. Try picking up a jump rope and start jumping! you may be surprised how difficult it is and how your heart rate starts to sky rocket!!

Brent became batman while doing the hanging power cleans!

nanananananana BATMANN!!!What doesn’t kill him definitely makes him AWESOME instead.. I mean he did summon batman!

ON TO MY GROCERY BASKET!

Todays grocery trip took us to 3, yes I said THREE, different grocery stores. A bit ridiculous YES, but also needed. I decided to take a BEFORE picture so you could see what was in our Grocery Basket… uhh baskets….

BEFORE:

three trips and lots of food but for a good price… no one said eating healthy had to be expensive! $50/person for the week for ALL of this food!!!

Todays prep went better than usual! I vowed to go easy this week, so we just fired up the grill… uh our camper sized grill… and grilled ALL our protein YEAH all 21 chicken breasts & 8 Pork Chops… it took about 4 rounds through the grill but they all got cooked AND they look & taste so much better than boring baked protein! BONUS is Brent is a VERY happy boy knowing there is SO MUCH meat in the fridge… he definitely needs meat protein at every meal!

Hope you guys had a wonderful weekend and spent some time today to make your life easier and prep some meals for the week!

~Allison

I’d Love To Know~~ What does your grocery basket look like? How do you push through aches & pains?

First I AM SO SORRY for my lack of updates during week one & for the length of this post (in advance!) We have been hitting the gym around 7 each night so by the time I am home for the night I have just been CRASHING! So here is my week one recap!

To start here is a picture and quote from Day 1 #motivationmonday

#motivationmondayThere is no magic pill only handwork, dedication and consistency today and everyday. Start the week great!

Todays Workout:

Todays workout, I modified it to fit me, which meant eliminating some sets and adjusting some cardio accelerators. listen to your body!

Day 2

Thankfully today I didn’t have to drive to a meeting & just was in the clinic. I was excited for another good workout & even more excited that Brent & I decided to workout together. In the past we have gone to the gym at the same time but usually do our own workouts, but the beauty of this #shred is how it challenges us BOTH in different ways.

I LOVE going to the gym and working up a big sweat, if I leave and am NOT a sweaty mess I feel like I need to go back and try again… Don’t get me wrong I like to lift and try to challenge myself by lifting heavier weights but I want to keep my heartrate up, which usually results in lower weights higher reps and interval training. This is why I have fallen IN LOVE with {{specific}} group exercise classes & really am looking forward to trying CrossFit once this Shred is over!

Brent on the other hand would rather just lift heavy, he enjoys doing cardio workouts and the feeling he gets after it but if there is an option between purely lifting OR lifting + cardio he would choose LIFTING only every time!

BRING ON THE SHRED! This program utilizes heavy lifting supersetted [a superset is when you perform one lifting exercise piggy backed on another exercise {lifting or cardio} before taking your rest period] with a cardio “accelerator”. This is the best of both worlds for B&I, we are both able to increase our strength by lifting heavy & increasing weight each set AND between lifting are able to keep our heart rates up and really SWEAT!

Did you know working out gives you wings? Well I have #proof thanks to my #fitfluential tank! I saw this quote prior to my workout and it definitely rang true through out the session. I dislike mountain climbers, but sweat like crazy doing them, & each drop of sweat motivates me to push a little harder and sweat a little more!

After the gym we whipped up a quick dinner of some chicken that was prepped earlier in the week, and some potatoes that we got at the grocery store. WE LOVE to “EatARainbow” and try foods that are different colors; each color has different nutrients and does something different for you! SO this week we saw Purple Potatoes at the store & picked one up with a sweet potato. Since we were starving I nuked them in the microwave first and then sliced them up and cooked them in a sauté pan with some coconut oil. The purple potato looked so pretty and tastes just like a regular potato, maybe a bit denser.

I challenge you to try something NEW… maybe a purple potato or anything else! Try something fun and remember to #EatARainbow

Todays workout:

Again modified today based on time constraints. Being in the gym is the first step, if you have to modify to fit your schedule DO IT! Its better to do something WELL than nothing at all!

DAY 3

Today I overcame my first food challenge of the Shred, the dreaded work lunch… Since our therapy tech and other PT are leaving (one for school the other to open a new clinic) we had a “goodbye” lunch for them & they ordered Pizza… The carbo/cheesy/greasy Achilles which always tastes SOO GOOD when I am eating it, but usually ends up making my stomach hurt and making me feel horrible afterwards. I had packed my lunch and was ready to enjoy my chicken salad and grapefruit {{which we are absolutely loving right now}} AND THEN they started talking pizza & asked what I wanted… I easily said none thankyou and STUCK to my salad while I watched & SMELLED the pizza next to me. It did smell good but I am SO GLAD I stuck to my salad, my body was fueled well and I stayed full until my pre-workout snack. I know my body was thanking me for giving it proper fuel rather than the fuel my brain was thinking it wanted.

I stumbled upon this QUOTE later that night and how fitting it is!

Junk food now OR body for years! making healthy and smart choices not only make you feel better today but for days to come!

I hate to say I “deprived” myself from having pizza, like I said before I want to enjoy food not feel like I am limiting myself or what I eat. BUT making smart choices about food is also important.

Tonight was our first 7pm workout night, and it was really very peaceful. I enjoyed being able to use basically whatever machine/bench we needed and not have to compete with other gym goers. We had a great workout and completed it for the first time all week. Again I modified some of the cardio accelerators so I didn’t have to run to the treadmill or do another day of a million step ups (my gluts can only handle so much!!) plus I enjoy challenging myself with exercises I don’t like to do {{mountain climbers}} and doing them for a minute. YOU CAN DO ANYTHING FOR ONE MINUTE!! [[even if you want to pass out at the end you did it!]].

Tonights Workout:

COMPLETED!!

THURSDAY REST!

Today was a CRAZY day!! I had another meeting to go to which required a long drive, when I was leaving the house annoyed that it was the time I usually WAKE UP I was stopped at a red light and looked up to see a really rather beautiful sunrise. At that time I realized I needed to stop being annoyed about something silly and just be positive and glad that I was able to see the sunrise! I found this quote about positivity and it was definitely my mantra for the day!!!

Staying positive is not only good for your mental health but for those around you! Don’t sweat the small stuff!

Positivity really does wonders! This morning turned out to be a rather stressful one and my decision to stay positive really did help me from having a break down & to be able to laugh about it later! To summarize my car battery died (could’ve been worse!), my sterio/radio stopped working (needed a code, thankfully I had my phone!!), I got pulled over AND GIVEN A WARNING!!!!! =) I had a decent handful of crazy things happen to me while I was at this meeting & during my drive home and even though things were stressful they could’ve been HORRIBLE and WAY more expensive. I was prepared to spend the day at the auto shop with some awful car problem, AND THEN prepared for a MASSIVE ticket. I am so thankful for these minor problems and that they reminded me that things can be worse.

Well needless to say my stress button was pretty high and after all that adrenaline from the day I was ready to just come home and VEG, but if there is something on my calendar I want to complete it, and that something was my day 4 workout. I was ignoring my body telling me it was tired and needed to rest and was prepared to go demolish day 4 workout. THEN Brent text me and said “lets take today off and workout Saturday and Sunday” THANK YOU BRENT!!! I needed the rest day more than I knew and my body was very happy for it! We were able to go to bed early and get some quality sleep to refresh our bodies for the next few days ahead.

DAY 4

FRIDAY!!!! Ahhh a much needed Friday indeed!! Our fridge is nearing empty and the lunches are getting creative! We ran out of lettuce&kale so Thursdays lunch was just veggies chopped up as a “salad”… I ended up grabbing lunch with our Tech at a local “market” sandwich shop, who has AMAZING salads. I got a roasted beet and chicken salad and it was amazing!!! I was very glad to grab lunch with her and not eat the kitchen sink at home!

We hit the gym later today as well and it was again pretty quite. We completed our workout without and dropped sets and since doing 15 reps of a crunch just isn’t enough for me I modified the abs a bit. Heres what I did Straight crunches with a 15lb kettlebell and then I did my new favorite oblique crunch which is a crossover oblique [lying flat on your back with legs straight and arms over head, take left arm and right leg raise both up and twist to touch left hand to right toes] I used a 5lb plate for a little added resistance.

Todays Workout

Just because its Friday doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do in the gym!

We came home and fired up our babygrill & oven. Grilled some steaks and bakes some asparagus for a summertime dinner! I mixed together a quick rub for the steaks and MAN WAS IT GOOD!! A bit spicy but added a lot of flavor!

Equal Parts: Cayenne pepper, chili powder, ground ginger, & ground mustard, then a touch of ground fennel seed! I melted some coconut oil and then rubbed the oil and my seasoning into the steaks, then grilled them up to your preferred doneness!

Dinner was a great way to end this first week of our challenge. Its been a busy busy week but I have more energy and feel 100xbetter about myself now than I did last week! I am excited for each days workout and pushing myself to the next limit!

I promise I wont wait for the end of the week to recap you on each day! This was way too long for you to read and me to write!

What’s your favorite way to end the week? How do you make time for everything in a day?